Roasted Winter Veggies with Wheat Berries and Greens

Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Joyous Solstice....and a joyful whatever other holiday I've missed. I hope your winter holidays were fantastic. We spent ours in the Bay Area with D's family. I had never been to California before, so it was exciting. We spent time with his parents and sister, as well as some of his extended family. We explored Monterey and San Francisco. I met some of D's West Coast friends. Overall, it was a lot of fun.


But I didn't do any cooking more strenuous than putting something in a toaster. And I didn't really have access to a computer to catch up on all the recipes I didn't share with you while I was running around trying to get ready to leave for the holidays. Or to get all of the work done that I had planned.

It was also the first Christmas I had spent away from my family. I don't think you realize how important family traditions are until you are without yours. I woke up on Christmas morning and there wasn't the smell of cinnamon rolls and eggs. There wasn't anything to spike my coffee with in order to make the Christmas chaos more bearable--there wasn't even any coffee. There wasn't even any chaos (I guess that's what happens when the youngest person participating in your Christmas festivities is 25...). I may have started sobbing on the phone to my mom when I called...Still jet-lagged, I fell asleep on the couch at D's aunt and uncle's house after dinner. But it all turned out OK.

Now I'm back, well rested and ready to go. Plus, I got a new cookbook for Christmas (one that even tells me what wine to serve with what I cook) and a gift certificate to Brooklyn Kitchen, so I'm sure 2012 will bring some good recipes...


This is a quick dinner I threw together one night while we were cleaning and doing laundry and just generally prepping to go out of town. It made enough food for dinner, plus two lunches of leftovers.

Roasted Winter Veggies with Wheat Berries and Greens

2 small beets, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
2 small sweet potatoes, cut into 1" chunks
2 small red skinned potatoes, cut into 1" chunks
1 medium carrot, cut into 1" chunks
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can chickpeas, drained and well dried (or 1 1/2 c home cooked)
2-3 T olive oil
coarse sea salt
dried thyme
freshly ground black pepper

about 1 c chopped greens (I used the leaves from the outside of my cauliflower, but any dark , leafy green will do)
Cooked wheat berries or other whole grain (2-3 c)

2-3 T quark (goat cheese would also work here)

Preheat the oven to 425. Toss the veggies and chickpeas with olive oil and spread on a baking sheet. Season with salt, pepper and thyme. Roast for 20-30 minutes, or until tender and browned.

Just before the veggies are done, reheat the grains and quickly saute the greens in a little olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Combine the veggies and greens in a large bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Serve over the wheat berries and topped with a bit of quark.

Serves 2-3